Sassy Skinny Jeans

For Christmas Little Miss got a pair of skinny jeans from Aunt Rae and Uncle Tim. I swear every time she puts them on she gets sassier. Aunt Rae asked for some pictures so here they are. She had been wearing them all day so they stretched a bit. It was very cold that morning so we were only able to snap a few pictures.

My very talented Mother in-law came up with a very fun gift idea this year the
12 months of Christmas. You should check out her blog to see pictures and her story of putting it all together. It was so much fun to open each month and see what creative thing would be next!

January: Movie night included Regal tickets in a popcorn container

February: Bouquets in Winter included a vase with Trader Joe's gift card

March: Car Wash included Kaady car wash gift card in a car holder

April: Gardening included a bucket filled with gloves, garden accessories, and a gift card

May: Cinco de Mayo included some homemade salsa, Mike's margaritas , and chips

June: Summer BBQ included a glass votive holder, BBQ sauce, and 3 rubs

July: A Taste of Italy included some homemade Limoncello and shot glasses

August: Happy Hour included a gift card to McMenamins in a fun glass

September: Romance basket included pasta, sauce, candles & holders, dessert, wine and a romance music CD

October: Fall Baking included some TJ Bread mix, ceramic measuring spoons, homemade dishcloth, and printed freezer labels from Martha Stewart site

November: Red Box Movie Night included $$$ in a RED box, popcorn, and some theater candy

December: It's Cold Outside! included Ceramic cocoa set, homemade marshmallows and chocolate covered candy canes

I loved the idea so much my sis and I have adopted the idea to make a fun Christmas gift for all the nieces and nephews this coming Christmas. And with the help of a local party store going out of business we have some fun things purchased already! Thank you Karen for another fun idea!!! Be sure to Check out her blog there are lots more creative ideas to be found.

Make It Bake It Grow It or Sew It

We did the traditional Make it, Bake it, Grow it, or Sew it this year with the my family and yet again I am blessed with some talented family member. Must apologize now for the pictures I was tiered and I just don't want to take them all over again so here they are a bit blurry but you get the idea I also gave credit to both the spouses but we all now in our family who really did the work. ( My Sisters you rock)
Doug and Molly made bread and Apple butter for the adults. YUMMY! They also made note books for some of the kids here is a great Tutorial on how to make the books. For some of the other kids she made cute bean bags and included a print out of a bunch of different games to play with them.

Sean and Jen made the adults rice heat packs which I have to say I have used mine a ton! For the kids she made these adorable magnet boards from cookie sheets, craft paper and then made magnets from glass stones and wooden pieces.

Melissa made these shirts for the kids using fabric paint and freezer paper. You can be sure these will be showing up at a few birthday parties this year! Here is a tutorial we used to makes these cute shirts. She also made kits for the adults to grow some herbs this spring. I am so looking forward to having some fresh herbs to use.

My Sister Beth and Her new husband Steve gave us the gift of Family History. She put together some genealogy paper work for all of us. She continues to struggle to get more information on my dad's family as he is not from the USA. It was a thoughtful gift that took many hours.
I gave each of the adults a family breakfast kit which included cinnamon pancake mix( I will post the recipe soon), homemade jam, a pack of family recipes and some new ones I found out in blog land, and some fun conversation starters I printed onto business cards.
My mom gave us an amazing gift that really needs to be it's own post. As soon as I get mine back(hint, hint, momma) I will take a picture and share the story with you!
Look back here tomorrow to hear my mother in-laws great gift idea. Trust me you will want to hear it. It was a great fun gift that I have already started to adapt for next year for the nieces and nephews.

Pioneer Court House Square

Another tradition of Christmas Eve is a stop for some starbucks and some pictures. This year I forgot to give my camera over when it came to our family pictures. I did however get a few pictures of the kids trying to stay dry under their umbrellas while we were waiting for everyone to get coffee.





Then after some family pictures daddy and Little miss went to look for the brick with his name on it. I love this picture just look at how hard she is looking and to be honest I am not even sure she really new what she was looking for she just wanted to help her dad.

I snapped this picture of Little Mister when he didn't know I was watching him. I know he looks sad but he is not at all this is his deep in thought face. This is the face I see right before he writes me another book, or draws me a picture. I see this face when we tell him something new and he needs time to figure it all. This is one of my favorite pictures because I know that face and it is one a boy full of imagination, compassion, and wonder.


After a yummy late lunch at Rock Bottom we came outside to see the city looking like this.


We ended the night with the kids opening one present of new PJ's and wearing then to the movies to see Tangled. When we got home we read the Christmas story and then it was to sleep.

Santa and some snow

On Christmas eve we went to see Santa as usual and this time we lucked out with no line!

The mall was all decorated for Christmas and another favorite event of the day is when the snow starts to fall at the mall. The kids love it! Little Mister even laid down to make a snow angel. I tried to get a few pictures of them playing in the "snow" but there was so many people and other kids around I manged to get just two pictures where you can still see their faces :)





Tomorrow I will post some of my favorite pictures from the day when we went to Pioneer Court House Square.

Flashback just a little to Christmas time. Things have finally slowed down a bit and I have been able to get some things around the house done including take pictures off the camera.

So it is finally time to show those Christmas photos.
For Christmas eve this year we did the same start to the day as always, breakfast at Krispy Kreme.

This year instead of the usual sweet pose I chose instead the chocolate face. I know it will not be too long from now they will no longer allow me to take such pictures :)

After Breakfast we head down town for a visit with Santa and see the rest of the Germer family. Those picture will have to wait till tomorrow. Until then sweet dreams

Make up

I will post some Christmas photo's soon after I do some editing. For now here is a few pictures of the girls getting ready before my sis Beth's wedding. I had hoped to take more pictures that day but with the kids and I all in the wedding the camera sat in it's bag most the day.

The night before sleeping with curlers



Even Little Miss got to wear some eye shadow and lip gloss

The Brides Turn